About Me

Having served as Milam County Judge for 12 years my interest in Milam County government has grown. There is little doubt that we, as uneducated voters, are sometimes our own enemies. It is essential to good government, at any level, that the voters are educated and understand what the "real" issues are. The major reason I started this blog is to try to keep voters informed. My insights and experience can give you the rest of the story. The final decision is yours.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

DON'T LOOK ETHEL

We all know that the voter
turnout was low for the last primary election in Milam County.Less than a 23% turnout of the registered
voters in the county.Less than one
fourth of the voters in the county called the shots in the last local
elections.You have to wonder why people
don't vote.

Not sure if everyone knows
it, but there is a list of those who voted.The voters list will tell you who voted in the election and which party
primary they voted in.Of course in the
general election you can tell who voted, but you won't know how they voted,
straight ticket or otherwise. The list
is available for viewing from the County Tax Office and makes for some
interesting reading.

I thought it might be
interesting to find out who actually did vote in the primary and the list
provides some interesting if not surprising reading.When I think of those that vote on a regular
basis I think that they are civic minded citizens that are interested being a
part of the decision making process in local, state and federal
government.I often hear folks say,
"Why should I vote….my vote won't make any difference."If you don't vote it doesn't even have a
chance to make a difference.

I was truly surprised, and
yet saddened after viewing the voters list.I was amazed at some of those that did not cast a vote in either
primary.There were community leaders,
elected officials, teachers, school administrators, and others that you would
think would have voted. There were
contributors to the campaigns that did not vote in either primary.Pretty sad situation when those that are
supposed to be examples for others fail in their civic responsibilities.

Then there are those that tell you they
voted when they really didn’t.Kind of
makes you wonder if they knew there was a list.Or maybe they just thought what idiot would look at who voted and who
didn’t.There are many organizations and
even commercial companies that take a look at who votes and who doesn't.Data mining software has been in use
for years not to increase voter turnout, but to find out more information about
voters. Internet marketers and
candidates, through the use of data-mining tools, are combining individual
voter records and personal commercial data to target candidates, issues, and
products to specific segments of the population, potentially crossing the
boundaries of individual privacy in the process.

So now that some folks know
that their data is being "mined" from the voters list they will have
another reason for not voting.The only
real reason for not voting in today's elections is death.It is so easy to vote today compared to when
I first started voting it is not even funny.Since it is easy there is no excuse.

Speaking of voting don't
forget to cast your vote in the run-off elections on May 27th or
during early voting that begins on May 19 and continues through May 23rd.While there are no local contests in the
run-off there are state offices that are very important to Milam County
residents.Lieutenant Governor and
Attorney General are both in the run-off.

Take time to cast your vote
and make it count.Whatever you do just remember
that there is a list of those who cast their vote.A list that every registered voter should be
proud to have their name on.Don’t forget
that while Ethel might not be looking there are a lot of folks that do.